The invention relates to a table, in particular for video workstations, having a height-adjustable tabletop with at least one vertical guide strut, furthermore having a table frame with at least one table support for the guide strut which telescopes within it, and having at least one adjustable spring leg which is arranged between the table frame or the table support and the height-adjustable table elements and has a spring on the inside, the adjustable spring leg being coupled, with its one spring end, in a positionally fixed manner to the table frame or the table support and being supported, with its other spring end, in an adjustable manner against a spring-leg base which varies the pretension of the spring and is connected to the height-adjustable spring elements, and it being possible for the spring-leg base to be locked in positions matched to differing loads on the tabletop by means of an attached adjusting device.
A table of the type of design described at the beginning has been disclosed by DE 38 17 102 C2. Such a table can, of course, also be realized with a multiplicity of tabletops instead of one tabletop. Structures on top of the tabletop, such as, for example, shelving, cupboard elements etc. are also conceivable. The tabletop and guide strut (or guide struts) generally form the height-adjustable table elements whereas the table frame and table support remain fixed in position.
In the case of the known table, which the invention takes as the starting point, height adjustment is brought about by the tabletop being kept in suspension by means of the adjustable spring leg. For this purpose, use is made of the adjusting device which matches the spring-leg base to differing loads on the tabletop. In the case of the known teaching this matching is done in such a way that the adjusting device for the spring-leg base or the supported spring end of the adjusting spring leg is designed as a spindle drive with a handwheel or crank. All in all, a mounting which is, as it were, suspended is realized for a height-adjustable table whose tabletop can--because of the suspended state--be adjusted in height with minimum effort by a relevant operator. After the desired position of the tabletop has been reached, the latter is generally fixed via a (manually operable) locking brake.
The measures described above have proved their worth per se but, as far as the weight counterbalance or the reaching of the suspended state are concerned, are in need of improvement. For one thing, manual adjustment of the adjusting spring leg or of the spring-leg base thereof no longer meets today's requirements for convenience and, for another thing, inaccuracies are associated with the manual adjustment and, in particular, flexible and rapid matching to changing loads on the tabletop is achieved only with a great outlay. In addition, if the weight is not completely counterbalanced and the locking brake is released risks to the operator cannot be ruled out. This is where the invention comes in.